1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for automatically placing valve bags onto a filler spout to be filled thereby. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic apparatus for placing valve equipped bags upon the spouts of up to three filling machines through which the bags may be filled with flowable particulate material.
Valve bags are of the type which comprise a top which is open at one end so as to be able to receive the filling spout of a filling machine. The principal advantage of such bags is that they close automatically when filled and removed from the machine so that no sealing procedures are needed to close the bags at their top subsequent to their being filled.
2. Prior Art
The prior art most relevant to the present application is U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,558 to Durant, the applicant of the present invention. A substantial number of additional prior art patents, although less relevant are also pertinent and are disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,558.
As noted in the aformentioned patent of the present applicant, the valve bag placer disclosed therein overcomes a number of substantial disadvantages of the prior art. By way of example, the aforementioned bag placer disclosed by the present applicant is capable of satisfactorily handling valve bags of the type made of lightweight plastic. Furthermore, the prior invention of the applicant significantly reduces the amount of time and labor required in stacking the bags to be placed on a spout of a filling device by substantially reducing the exent to which care and accuracy must be employed in aligning bags in stacks to be automatically placed on the spout. Still a further feature of the aforementioned invention of the applicant is a substantial increase in reliability of the mechanism used for opening the valve end of the bag to insure positive placement of the open valve portion on the filler spout and thereby prevent particulate material from being poured onto the ground or otherwise poured outside of the bag.
Despite the significant advantages provided by the invention of applicant disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,558, over the years of operation of the bag placer disclosed therein, a number of significant additional improvements have been developed. The principal benefit provided by these improvements relates to the speed and reliability of the apparatus and therefore to the number of bags that can be placed per unit time using the present invention. It is to these speed-related, significantly advantageous improvements that the present application is primarily directed. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,558 is incorporated herein by reference.